The first edition of the 2019 Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25 Rankings were released on Wednesday, and there are some familiar names at the top of both the men and women’s ranks.
On the men’s side, Wake Forest has earned the top spot to start the year. The Demon Deacons are the defending national champions, and Petros Chrysochos—the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s top-ranked player—is a big reason why. Rounding out the rest of the Top 5 is Ohio State, Mississippi State, USC and Florida.
Here is the entire men’s Top 25:
Rank (End of 2018 Ranking) – Points
- (1) Wake Forest – 300
- (2) Ohio State – 284
T3. (5) Mississippi State - 258
T3. (6) USC – 258
- (8) Florida – 246
- (3) UCLA – 243
- (9) North Carolina – 238
- (11) Texas – 214
- (12) Stanford – 196
- (19) Baylor – 172
- (7) Illinois – 167
- (14) Columbia – 148
- (NR) Virginia – 145
- (4) Texas A&M – 140
- (NR) Notre Dame – 122
- (11) TCU – 120
- (T25) Tulane – 117
- (20) Alabama – 100
- (15) Florida State – 96
- (18) Oklahoma – 86
- (13) Michigan – 54
- (22) Tennessee – 41
- (23) Oklahoma State – 40
- (NR) NC State – 14
T25. (T25) Georgia – 13
T25. (21) Vanderbilt – 13
Receiving Votes: Tulsa 10, Oregon 8, Dartmouth 7, Minnesota 6, Arizona State 2, Kentucky 2, Memphis 2.
Dropped Out (from 2018): Harvard, Minnesota, Mississippi.
For the women, defending champion Stanford will open the year as the No. 1 team. Right behind the Cardinal is Duke, and the rest of the Top 5 consists of North Carolina, Vanderbilt and UCLA. Stanford will be especially tough this year, as the team returns its entire singles and doubles lineup.
The rest of the women's Top 25 is as follows:
Rank (End of 2018 Ranking) – Points
- (1) Stanford – 299
- (3) Duke – 283
- (6) North Carolina – 269
- (2) Vanderbilt – 268
- (5) UCLA – 247
- (8) Georgia – 236
- (9) Pepperdine – 224
- (10) Texas – 223
- (18) Oklahoma State – 185
- (13) South Carolina – 149
- (7) Texas Tech – 139
T12. (11) Florida State – 121
T12. (NR) Ohio State – 121
- (14) Northwestern – 110
- (NR) LSU – 105
- (20) Kansas – 103
- (NR) Syracuse – 96
- (15) Miami (Fla.) – 84
- (NR) NC State – 77
- (16) Florida – 59
- (19) Michigan – 53
T22. (4) Georgia Tech – 52
T22. (25) Virginia – 52
- (22) Baylor – 47
- (NR) USC – 38
Receiving Votes: Mississippi 29, California 27, Tennessee 27, UCF 25,Auburn 18, Kentucky 15, Wake Forest 12, Oklahoma 10, Arizona State 8,Texas A&M 5, Purdue 3, Tulsa 3.
Dropped Out (from 2018): Illinois, Mississippi, Oregon, Tulsa, UCF
Each team's point total is the sum of its ranking points from the USTA's panel of 14 voters. Each voter ranked 25 teams from Nos. 1 to 25, with the first-place team receiving 25 points and the last place team receiving one. For control, the highest and lowest outlying ranking for each team on the ballot was removed. Therefore, the maximum number of points a team can receive is 300. First-place votes were not tallied.
The full list of voters participating in the 2019 rankings are: Casey Angle (former Intercollegiate Tennis Association Director of Championships); Jordan Bishop (The News Press; Stillwater, Okla.); Virgil Christian (USTA Collegiate Tennis); Richard Croome (The Eagle; Bryan, Texas); Sonny Dearth (Daily Press; Newport News, Va.); Granger Huntress (Texas College Tennis); David Fish (Universal Tennis Ratings); Andy Katz; Bobby Knight (College Tennis Today); Brandon Moglen (Tennis Channel); Dallas Oliver/Shannon Wrege (Tennis Recruiting Network); Michael Patrick (former University of Tennessee women’s head coach), Lisa Stone (Parenting Aces) and Caitlin Thompson (Racquet Magazine).
A number of these programs will be showcased nationally this season on Tennis Channel, via the live College MatchDay series from the USTA National Campus in Orlando. The College MatchDay schedule begins with a matchup between the Florida and Florida State men on Saturday, February 2, at 6 p.m. ET.
